Customer satisfaction: a quarter of finance firms have never sought survey feedback

More than a quarter of finance businesses have never asked their customers what they think of their products or services, according to new research.

The data, from telecommunications provider Esendex, reveals that 29% of finance firms have never sent a customer service survey; a further 7% said the last time was more than five years ago.

One in four businesses (26%) in the industry also admitted they’ve never invested in improving their customer satisfaction levels – either through processes or tools – or if they had it was over half a decade ago.

Amy Robinson, senior brand development manager at Esendex, said: “There’s never been a more pressing time than in the current climate for businesses to be striving for customer service excellence and to be communicating with and seeking feedback from those that are actually paying for their products or services.

“At a time when there is more competition than ever, surveys are one of the easiest ways to gain valuable insights from those that buy from you and can help to build a loyal customer base. Yet, according to our research, 37% of businesses have not invested in improving their customer satisfaction levels within the last year (31% for finance firms), and – for 51% of companies – it is not the norm to send out customer feedback surveys at least once a year.

“Some businesses may worry that they will not get a good response rate, but you’d be surprised by how many people are willing to give a couple of minutes of their time to provide their honest opinions. With a plethora of communication platforms available to businesses these days, you can easily test what works best for you – whether that’s seeking feedback through social media, email or sending an SMS message straight to your customers’ phones, which we know through our own research has a 95% open rate.”

The survey, which takes into account the opinions of over 400 international businesses, reveals that one in five companies (23%) would rate their current customer service levels as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ – 19% for those in the finance sector. Almost one in three (32%) would also rate their firm’s ability to measure and benchmark their satisfaction levels as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’.